Oh My, It's Wednesday: Part Dos

(To read part one, click here.)

Last Wednesday was not a great day. It was long and hard and spiritually and physically exhausting. I woke up the next morning to a more pleasant experience but the trauma of last Wednesday nearly made me fear for today.

I lived to tell about it! I actually had a great Wednesday though my expectations were, admittedly, quite low.

Why: I had to face one of my biggest fears: Public Speaking. We had to prepare our testimonies to give before the class. I'd written and rewritten and practiced and then rewritten and revised my speech over the past few days. Practicing it with my roommates last night nearly brought me to tears. I couldn't get the words out. I stumbled. I was so nervous that I cheesy-smiled my way through it my first time (Erica pointed out that saying, "I realized that my sin deserved death" was really NOT best illustrated with a goofy grin. I took that to heart). I was overwhelmed and discouraged last night. I talked it out, prayed about it, and determined to make it not about me. When I say that, I mean I still talked about myself, but I didn't want my pride to get in the way. I didn't want it to be about me saying the right thing. I really wanted to say what God wanted me to.

After a long and agonizing introduction to class (including a quiz and a small lecture on doing coming to class on time) this morning, my professor announced that I would be going first. I was SO nervous. My hands were shaking really badly. That's all I remember. I have no concept of how I did but it's done. I probably could have done better but even if my words weren't so grand, I know my attitude and outlook on it was right. That makes it worth it.

It's Founder's Week so instead of Chapel, we're watching videos from Founders Week in Chicago. Today was a video of Phil Vischer speaking. It was really poignant. His "thesis" (if you will) was that God is ready to use us as soon as we are ready to give Him anything (he used Abraham and the Shunamite woman as examples). Very good. And what's making Founders Week nice is that we don't sit in Udhen Chapel, we get to sit downstairs at tables, eating free food. Today was soup, salad and bread. Very exciting.

Research Writing wasn't too bad. Still not a joy but not bad. We brainstormed for papers and looked at sources.

After class ended at three, I set out with a friend to find something to eat. We decided to brave a diner that "looked cute" and it turned out to be really good. We both had burgers topped with mushrooms, swiss cheese, and grilled onions. Yum! I really enjoyed the fellowship, hearing about her life and talking about the future. It was encouraging. I definitely hope to get together with her again soon.

I took the bus home and it was uneventful. Talked to Dad on the phone the whole way back which was a treat. Now I'm here and about to start some homework for Hermeneutics.

I'm not really sure what it was that made today "better". It definitely had just as much opportunity for a bad day but I think some of it personally was that my focus was on making not just my testimony but my day about God and not about me. It was so much more enjoyable that way!

Found a picture of Brooke and I from two years ago and thought I'd share...